Veteran Suicide FYI

Suicide is a big deal, it's killing more veterans than the war on terror!

6,500 former military personnel killed themselves in 2012. More veterans succumbed to suicide than were killed in Iraq. In 2012, 177 active-duty soldiers committed suicide, conversely 176 soldiers were killed in combat. In other words, more soldiers committed suicide compared to being killed in action. In 2012, the study concluded that Army had the highest number of suicides compared to any other service branch.

In 2013, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study that covered suicides from 1999 to 2010, which showed that roughly 22 veterans were committing suicide per day, or one every 65 minutes. Some sources suggest that this rate may be undercounting suicides. A recent analysis found a suicide rate among veterans of about 30 per 100,000 population per year, compared with the civilian rate of 14 per 100,000. However, the comparison was not adjusted for age and sex.

The total number of suicides differs by age group; 31% of these suicides were by veterans 49 and younger while 69% were by veterans aged 50 and older. As with suicides in general, suicide of veterans is primarily male, with about 97 percent of the suicides being male in the states that reported gender.

In 2015, the Clay Hunt Veterans Suicide Prevention Act passed in the Senate and was then enacted as Pub.L. 114–2 on February 12, 2015.

"Combat veterans are not only more likely to have suicidal ideation, often associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, but they are more likely to act on a suicidal plan. Especially since veterans may be less likely to seek help from a mental health professional, non-mental-health physicians are in a key position to screen for PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideation in these patients."

The same study also found that in veterans with PTSD related to combat experience, combat-related guilt may be a significant predictor of suicidal ideation and attempts.

Craig Bryan of the University of Utah National Center for Veterans Studies said that veterans have the same risk factors for suicide as the general population, including feelings of depression, hopelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, a history of trauma, and access to firearms.

Veteran Takes His Own Life After No One Answers His Suicide Hotline Call

Sometime between July 22 and 23, 2015, Young called the VA’s suicide hotline in desperate need of help, but he didn’t get an answer. After leaving a message, Young went to the local Metra tracks, lay down, and was killed by an oncoming train. It wasn’t until the next day that the hotline returned Young’s call.

During an interview with an ABC News, Young’s brother Will said that Thomas tried to get help at the VA, but it was useless:

“The first two times he was turned away, told he didn’t qualify for treatment because he wasn’t suicidal. The third time he was suicidal and he was put on a waiting list.”

Thomas Young, right, with his brother Will. Image Credit: Facebook

According to The Daily Caller, Young had tried to kill himself before.

The Independent Journal spoke with Will Young about his brother’s suicide, and he had some stirring words for the VA:

“These people that the VA is working with aren’t disposable parts, they’re people’s family members, they’re real people with real issues. My concern–my reason for doing this was not to get my brother’s name in the paper, was not to have people call me and give me their condolences, it’s to promote change so it doesn’t happen again.

I would like the VA to learn from my brother’s story. If you serve in a combat zone, there should be zero red tape if you need help. Zero.”

The corruption and incompetence at the VA runs deep.

In 2008, CBS reported on leaked emails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA’s head of mental health at the time, that painted a damning picture of an agency deliberately covering up the volume of veteran suicides in the United States.

One email read:

“Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?”

Image Credit: Screenshot

After the email release, NBC reports that Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Patty Murray (D-WA) called for Katz’s resignation. Yet, six years later, Katz was not only still employed by the VA, but he was made Acting Director of Mental Health Operations.

After Senator Kirk questioned Dr. David Shulkin, the VA Under Secretary for Health, Thursday, he confirmed Katz is still with the VA.

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, The Daily Caller adds:

“The government-run healthcare provider had been alerted to problems with its suicide hotline four months prior to Young’s death, but didn’t fix the issues.”

In February 2015, the VA claimed changes were being made. However, during Thursday’s hearing, Senator Kirk asked VA undersecretary, Dr. David Shulkin, why, if changes were being made, Young was left alone with no one to answer his desperate call. Shulkin deferred blame to a contractor, and called the incident “totally unacceptable.”

After hearing endless stories regarding the failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs over the last several years, it can become easy for many Americans to simply stop listening, but Young’s tragic story, as well as his brother’s powerful indictment, will hopefully serve to remind Americans that this issue is far from resolved.

Story Via IJReview